Right. They're modified to use their local path for their environment. They read prefs locally, etc. Also, those that need a cache write it locally and try to minimize writes. That saves the flash RAM. (flash RAM doesn't have ~limitless writes like HD space or DRAM.)
Some of the apps are even good for read-only CD use, some need a little modification, but it's a bunch better than the autorun apps that try to merge thumbdrive settings with the desktop apps, if you've been unlucky enough to try them.
As for the library, unfortunately, smart IT people often lock down USB ports on public systems. They're a nightmare waiting to happen.
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There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195
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